Chapter 11

I woke up with a heavy feeling on my chest. Literally. I had taken to sleeping with Felicity and Artemis out of their pokeballs every night and though it was nice to snuggle up, it also meant that I was constantly waking to the flat stare of my nose-ticklingly furry Venonat. Plus I was beginning to find hairs everywhere.

And I do mean everywhere.

If it wasn't a purple hair in my asscrack it was a white hair in my food. Or a purple hair in my mouth with a white hair up my nose. I was quickly becoming known as "the kid who sheds" among the pokemon centre's sparse population.

Cooper's new game of trying to collect as many as possible didn't help matters as he often times scoured my entire body, (including a few unmentionable areas) in public. Needless to say the other trainers turned around when we approached.

Not that I would have wanted to socialise with Pewter Town hicks anyway.

On top of increasing my keratin ingestion rate, letting my pokemon out to sleep really did wonders for our relationship. Artemis stood as a stoic sentry as per usual, even inside the pokemon centre. I had to admit I was touched by her dedication and always managed to sleep sounder under her vigil.

Felicity was the bigger improvement, realising after the first night that she would prefer the warmth of body heat over the lonely cold of her pride. I woke up with a purring, sleeping Meowth on top of my chest, looking so cute that I almost felt bad for pushing her to the floor.

Almost.

The next morning I had woken up with Felicity on my side and Artemis on my chest, who was both far heavier and much more likely to Disable or Poisonpowder me if I tried it. She leered down at me expressionless, emanating smug superiority.

At least my pokemon were bonding together against me.

This particular morning was the same deal, Felicity dozing between my body and right arm, Artemis sitting on my chest staring down at me. Daring me to move.

I wasn't going to back down again today. Definitely not today. "You realise I control your food rations, right?"

She leaned in closer to my face, practically whispering, "chirripirri".

I craned my neck up, death staring her, "What have you got bug? Bring it on."

We stared at one another. No sounds but for the clock on the wall.

Tick.

A languid smile crept on across my face.

Tock.

Artemis bristled. Her antennae twitched.

I made my move.

Twenty minutes later I greeted Cooper with a poisoned runny nose and a disabled leg. Along with a miniscule, tiny little black eye.

He raised his eyebrows accompanying his grin, "You want an eyepatch for that?"

"It's nothing", I muttered around my toast.

Of course this only compelled him to lean in close and poke it, "I've seen dark pokemon who weren't that black."

A brutal kick to the shins had him soon regretting his curiosity.

Small pleasures really did make a day. I even managed to keep the number of hairs in my food down to a single digit number.

If not for the imminent thrashing I was about to receive from Brock it would've been quite an enjoyable morning.

Cooper picked up on my darkening mood instantly, "You'll be fiiiiiiiine Nat. I've seen you train your pokemon, just keep to your strategy and if things deviate then just… improvise." He added unhelpfully. "You do have a strategy, don't you?"

I grinned malevolently. Oh yes, I certainly did have a strategy.

Cooper grimaced, "I know you well enough to feel a little bit sorry for Brock."

"Maybe you do know me Cooper. Maybe you do."

And you know what? Not all of of my gusto was forced that morning.

We arrived at the gym just on time, Cooper heading for the stands to watch with my best buddy in the whole world, Liam. He wore a dark scowl, lightening my mood a little. I only wish I could have seen whatever punishment Brock thought up for that waste of oxygen.

The man himself stood in the centre of his newly refurbished gym with our officiator. She gave me a curt nod and that was all the introduction I received.

Brock likewise gave me a nod of greeting, "Good. You came this time". I scowled at him. He didn't need to bring that up now.

Renewed anticipation flooded my veins, "Well I wouldn't want to disappoint such esteemed company. Though Cooper and I did consider dressing him up and battling for me; Neither of us thought you would be able to see the difference."

Cooper backed me up with an over-enthusiastic "oooh!" from the stands.

Brock smirked at me, "I'm going to enjoy this battle, kid."

And that was it. With the officially sanctioned smack talk out of the way we both retreated to our respective trainers boxes. The psychic barrier flashed once around the box then disappeared from sight.

I very nearly considered a timeout to go have a tactical vom, but Brock sensing my intentions raised a hand, "Don't expect to run out on me this time either kid. I've locked the gym doors until the end of the battle. The only way out for you is forward."

Fucker.

"The battle between Trainer Nathaniel and Gym Leader Brock will now commence. Gym Leader Brock will use two pokemon. The challenger may use as many pokemon as he wishes. Only the challenger may make substitutions." Our referee motioned for me, "Trainer Nathaniel has the first move."

The Butterfree in my stomach suddenly learnt Take Down it seems, as I fought hard to contain my breakfast.

I took a deep breath, held it for ten and released.

I released Artemis.

Brock appraised my Venonat for a moment before releasing the first of his monsters.

A brown boulder smaller than Artemis, riddled with crevices and sporting two stubby little arms. A grumpy, lumpy Geodude.

"Are… are you for real?" I squawked. All I had to do was take out this rock with arms and Brock would be down to his last pokemon… I had been stressing myself out over this?!

With boosted confidence I ordered the first attack, "Artemis let's test out how tough this thing is, Confusion attack!" Seeing her comply almost brought a tear to my eye.

A finely tuned Confusion attack washed over the Geodude, who grimaced and writhed in pain, but ultimately withstood the attack.

"Use Defence Curl Greg!" Brock's Geodude 'Greg', rolled up into a ball, appearing to be no longer affected by the psychic attack.

I wasn't going to fall for any tricks though, "Artemis don't be fooled, keep your distance and blast away with Confusion, it's still doing damage." Unfortunately my little starter decided to ignore me in favour of a tackle attack. She didn't disobey often, thank the Legendaries, but it still happened.

Rushing in for her tackle, Artemis collided with the curled up Geodude and was thrown back, doing absolutely no damage to the rock Pokemon and giving Brock the initiative, who had been waiting for a close range fight.

"Greg, use Tackle yourself", his Geodude vaulted itself forwards (No, Geodude did not float like they did in a popular children's show. This representation infuriated teachers everywhere, and had led to a rise in Geodude capture rates among my generation, only for them to be later released by disillusioned morons), colliding with Artemis and sending her rolling backwards.

Greg then copied her motion moving in for an immediate Rollout attack, sending Artemis back even further.

He rolled around to gain some more momentum and I had a flash of deja vu from Cooper's battle, "Artemis wait for it to get in close then blast it with a high intensity confusion attack."

She had learnt her lesson it seemed and attacked exactly as prompted, waiting for Greg and herself to almost touch before sending him veering to the side with her powerful attack.

If the strategy had worked for Cooper than it could certainly work for me, as the match repeated much like Cooper's; Greg continuing in his attack rolling around and round but each time being blasted to the side before he got in too close.

After a particularly close call from which Greg was still recovering, Artemis chirruped something at me and I decided that she was right, this had gone on too long, one hit now and she would probably be KO'd.

"Just wait for him to come close again like usual", she nodded up at me obediently and I felt a swell of pride.

Greg was kicking up dust and rocks in his rotations now, gouging a small trench where he rolled, and prepared for a final run down he swerved making a direct beeline for Artemis.

A cloud of dust swirled behind him; This was one powerful rollout move.

He bore my bug down until the last moment arrived and, spittle flying, I shouted "Disable attack!"

Artemis fortunately had the sense of mind to jump to the side as she disabled Greg so that his momentum, now in the form of a tumbling and highly painful looking stumble, didn't hit her.

He tumbled straight out of the field and smashed into the wall of the arena with a resounding crash and a dust storm that could blind a Sandslash.

I pounded a fist into the air, "One down Brock. Are you sure you can see properly?"

He replied in an even tone, "Worry about your own blindness Nathaniel."

I creased my brow and waited for the dust to settle, eventually revealing an even grumpier looking Greg climbing out of a crevice in the wall. He brushed a rock off his shoulder and rolled back onto the field.

I gulped. I had clearly forgotten how resilient rock pokemon were.

"Artemis, keep him at bay again with Confusion." She nodded an affirmative, and bounced backward.

Greg now unable to use his rollout, resorted to long range attacks hurling a Rock Throw at her. She bounced aside and blasted the next one apart with a confusion attack, having little trouble keeping up.

A smile spread across my face; I couldn't help it. Things were going exceptionally well. It obviously helped that Brock had sent out the weakest of all Rock type pokemon against possibly my strongest pokemon, but even still Artemis was doing fantastically!

I chanced a glance up in Cooper's direction (out of a purely scientific curiosity), but was greeted with the exact opposite of what I was expecting.

In place of the smile I anticipated, he wore a slight frown on his face. Though very slight I couldn't miss it, perhaps because he very rarely wore anything other than a grin, or perhaps because I knew him so well.

Either way Cooper was unhappy about something.

I returned my focus to the battle at hand and tried to step back and observe it rationally.

Greg had only done sparing damage against Artemis, who had dealt out some pretty powerful slugs herself. Greg was now using a lot of energy to hurl rocks at Artemis who was dodging the majority, deflecting and blasting with her Confusion attack. Though she was puffing quite a bit.

All in all she was holding her own and even beating Brock's pokemon with no actual damage to herself besides exhaustion. All I had to do was keep this up and I would be onto Brock's last pokemon.

Artemis was clipped by a couple of rock fragments crying out in pain, but responded by sending a fast, low Confusion attack. Greg cried out in pain also.

So if things progressed the way they were she would be pretty exhausted… leaving me to deal with Brock's second pokemon without my starter!

Beedrill Fucking idiot!

I had completely forgotten about my strategy, getting caught up in the battle.

I mentally berated myself for being baited into weakening Artemis against Brock's fodder pokemon, quickly getting back on point with my plan by ordering Artemis to use disable again to stop the rain of Rock Throws.

She complied once more and I swiftly ordered her to prepare a Poisonpowder attack while Greg was adjusting.

Unfortunately Greg adjusted faster than i'd have hoped launching himself into a Rollout once more.

"Just release what you have now Artemis." I bellowed, voice cracking. My Venonat bounced once before flooding her general vicinity with enough purple spores to obscure any vision.

I took my cue now, playing my own part in the strategy before the opportunity was lost, ignoring Brock's taunts.

"Your pokemon is tired kid, poisoning Greg won't help defend you from the hit. Finish this now with a Rollout."

And just as I had hoped Brock fell for it, sending his rolling Geodude head first into the noxious cloud. Visibility was non existent but anyone could make out the distinctive thud of a direct hit.

Only two people present recognized the shriek of rage that responded.

Everyone recognized the grunt of pain from Greg.

Finally the cloud dissipated and all but Cooper and I gasped aloud (or if they didn't I imagined they did because Mew dammit I earned it). Greg was unconscious on the floor, and frothing at the mouth as he munched on a Pecha Berry was my demon. Beelzebub jumped around giving Greg the occasional kick as he rampaged.

"...Greg return." Was all Brock said, giving nothing of his thoughts away.

The officiator shook herself out of her stupor, "Greg is unable to battle. Gym Leader Brock will now send out his last pokemon."

I could have sworn I heard a snicker from Liam in the stands, but a quick glance showed Cooper to be thoroughly bothering the little shit.

I must have just imagined it.

Beelzebub shrieked in rage at the loss of his new playtoy, but was trained enough (or more likely just hadn't thought to) that he didn't rush any of us, choosing instead to jump around in anger. He had grown slightly bulkier and I smiled to myself at my secret weapon.

"Your Pinsir has the Moxie ability?"

Fuck these fucking knowitall Gym Leaders!

I glared at him quite vehemently, "We are in the middle of a battle you know. You can see that right? Send out your next pokemon!"

Cooper, my cheerleader backed me up with gusto, lifting his shirt to reveal his chest, screaming. "You tell him Nat! I love you! Have my babies! Whoo!"

Brock ignored his antics completely, "You might not be so confident if you knew what my last pokemon was."

Oh no.

He continued on, "but since you're so eager to get this battle on, i'll show you."

Oh fuck no.

Raising a pokeball he smirked at me across the field, "You're up Orman!"

Oh fuck shit titty fucking dicks no!

He released his Onix.

Even Coopers supportive chants were drowned out by the colossal roar that Brock's 'Orman' aimed at me.

I wonder how much pressure these trainer box barriers can hold? I somehow doubted they'd be able to stand up to the onslaughts of this thing.

Raising my hand to forfeit right then, I didn't even notice the frenzy my comparatively puny bug pokemon had begun, and didn't have time to throw in the towel before Beelzebub had charged Orman and smacked him right across the midsection with a Rage attack.

My plan of sending in a Moxie'd and Rage'd up Pinsir against Brock's final pokemon seemed somewhat futile now.

Or not so futile, the ever cynical part of my mind told me.

I had done extensive study on this freak of nature over the past week, and knew their only real asset was their defensive capabilities. So despite the fact that all of Beelzebub's attacks were physical, he still wouldn't be taking all too much damage, and thanks to his new Rage attack, he would be converting that damage into attack power.

All of this ran through my head while my Pinsir hammered down blow after blow against Orman, even managing to make the giant snake recoil a little.

Brock was yet to order an attack however, calmly watching the entire debacle unfold, until he raised a hand and muttered, "Orman, unleash power."

Onix twitched, which obviously went unnoticed by my rampaging Beelzebub, but I knew right away what had happened. Beelzebub was too far gone in his rage to hear me tell him to get back and so with an almighty swing, Orman unleashed the full force of his Bide attack on Beelzebub, sweeping him across the midsection with his massive tail and sending him flying.

Orman turned his gaze on me and my mind froze up.

All I saw were those malicious, primal, hungry (true story, I swear) eyes, bearing down on me, and all they saw were my knees nearly giving out as I opened my mouth in a silent scream.

Maybe that's why he didn't notice Beelzebub's Revenge attack until it had hit him under the head, but he certainly felt it.

Orman was sent tumbling onto his back by my heavily panting Pinsir, who took his time for a victory shriek before hammering away again with more Rage attacks. Orman however, was done playing around, snaking his body around to protect his head, he raised it high before slamming it down to the ground, in what I initially thought was an Earthquake.

It was in fact a Rock Tomb, as made painfully clear by the spires of rock that erupted from the ground entombing my Pinsir.

Orman didn't stop there, swinging around once more with his tail for a heavy looking Slam attack right onto my immobilized Pinsir.

I didn't need to hear the referee over the explosion of noise to know that Beelzebub was out for the count.

"Return Beelzebub", my defeated demon dematerialized and was sucked up into it's pokeball. I raised it and muttered, "You held on longer than I expected. Thankyou."

I wasn't watching and therefore never noticed, but in the stands Cooper flashed the smile I had previously been searching for. Pride.

I was too busy examining Brock's Orman, weighing up up how tired it was and who to use next.

Eventually I settled with my ace, sending Artemis back out to the battle.

I barely had time to give an order before Orman slammed a tail down onto Artemis. She jumped aside, seemingly refreshed from her battle earlier and chirruping angrily as dust hit her. Better dust than that freaking Onix tail though.

Orman recovered quickly sending another slam attack down on Artemis, who dodged yet again, this time directing her angry tirade at me. I was long gone however, the smashing and dust had sent me back further than I ever wanted to go again. I felt rocks crumbling and the earth shaking, and not from the battle.

Artemis gave up on me then, blasting a swift Confusion at Orman's head as she dodged another Slam attack. He shook it off, deciding to switch tactics and try for a Rock Tomb, but Artemis was a far nimbler little buggy than she looked, bouncing off of each individual rock spire as they erupted from the ground, and managing to spin mid air to blast away with Confusion.

I was helpless to do anything. My eyes were shut and I had my hands covering both ears, desperate to block out the sound of rocks tumbling, walls crashing and screaming. Familiar screaming. I pretended not to hear the sound of bone breaking or unintelligible pleas, and I certainly pretended not to hear the sound of my name being called.

What did permeate through it all was a very distinct, very familiar chirruping. A very upset Venonat kept buzzing in my peripheries, pulling my mind away from the crashing and the screaming. I drew upon that thread of consciousness, teasing it out slowly as my memories faded down a long hallway, and the sounds of the real world sharpened.

A final tug and I emerged as if i'd been underwater, to the sounds of a losing battle before me. Artemis had dodged and counterattacked, but she had already expended a lot of energy today and was getting clipped more often than she was successfully dodging. Orman kept up the barrage, switching between Slam and Rock Tomb.

"Brriipriiii!" A last minute leap had Artemis land directly in front of me, chirruping away what I can only assume was the longest string of insect curses at me. I scowled and nodded her way. She twitched her antennae. Message received.

"Okay Artemis, you've done well holding down the fort, but now papa's home and it's time to play for keeps." I almost lost her support at that. Cooper on the other hand ate it up. I guess you can't please everyone.

Brock meanwhile decided to speak up, "You're actually planning to battle now, I take it?".

I ignored the bait. He was just trying to distract me while Orman lined up for a slam attack. I was having none of it, "Artemis deflect with Confusion, you know how!"

A heavy Onix tail plummeted down, only to shift to the right and land next to my noble little huntress, "Now Disable attack!"

Needing no further prompting she lept up and blasted Orman up close with the attack. I was grateful that she listened, knowing she would have been tempted just to jump up and blast him with a Confusion, but stopping his main damage was paramount to the next stage of my masterplan.

"Artemis, now just throw out as much Poisonpowder as possible. Coat it all! Bathe in it!" A distant whoop from Cooper reminded me not to get carried away with the antics. I wasn't going to stoop to his level.

As soon as she landed, Artemis set to spreading her spores, bouncing around as she coated the field. She would have to work overtime to throw out enough spores to reach Orman's head. And boy did she work.

With his Slam disabled, Orman resorted to the far less accurate Rock Tomb attack to try and hit Artemis; His Bide was useless right now, and I had yet to see his last move.

Brock seemed happy to facilitate, "Use Rock Polish", he ordered. I could barely see him through all the purple haze. Talk about walking a mile in his shoes.

A silver sheen swept over Orman, leaving him looking smoother and slightly reflective; A seemingly innocuous effect but I knew better. Orman would be fast now. Maybe even faster than Artemis.

His latest Rock Tomb landed.

Probably faster than Artemis.

Still, unable to Slam yet, all he could do was try and chain his Rock Tomb's while keeping his head high above the cloud of toxic spores.

It was futile however, Artemis had really mastered her Poisonpowder attack, and it was only a matter of time before Orman succumbed. There was no physical reaction, but we all noticed it. Perhaps a slight tremor or hesitation, it didn't really matter.

I grinned Gengarly. A snide remark dying on my tongue as pillars of rocks erupted from the ground, delivering what had to be a knockout blow to my diligent starter.

I let the poison spores and dust dissipate before I returned her. Partly to check if she was really KO'd, and partly to make sure I didn't poison my next pokemon.

"You did your part Artemis. I'm appreciate your work", I muttered under my breath. I was only half sincere; I had been counting on her getting in a few good Confusion hits. Though I only had myself to blame for that.

The odds were slim, but with no other choice I summoned Felicity to the field. She had only relatively weak physical attacks so attacking wasn't an option. I had to get her to stall, and hope for the poison to do my work for me.

Brock unfortunately knew this also, ordering Orman to perform multiple Rock Polishes. He was in no rush, Felicity couldn't come close without risking any counterattack, so she just prowled around the field.

When he was finally ready to go, Brock ordered a Slam attack on Felicity. Orman's tail was a blur, striking down and then sweeping sideways in a matter of seconds, but fortunately my snooty little cat was light on her feet, managing to pounce around and up Orman's frame, raking her claws across his face. Not that it would have done much damage.

She didn't even have time to land before Orman twisted around and smashed her midair with a Slam attack. I winced. That had looked painful.

Felicity tumbled across the field, digging her claws in to slow down. Once again, she didn't even get time to stop sliding before Orman threw his tail down again. This one she managed to dodge, skittering around the tail, not even attempting to try a counterattack.

This wasn't a battle, this was just plain survival for her.

As pillars started erupting from the ground, she used them as leverage to jump around even more, but unfortunately despite her best efforts it was only a matter of time before she slipped up.

An erupting pillar came up too fast for her, scraping her on the side and throwing her off. Orman took his chance.

He Slammed her sideways, sending her flying into a pillar. Then he kept going. He Slammed his tail down on top of her. Then slammed down again. And again.

I froze momentarily, my memories trying to swallow me again, but I shook it off. Angry now.

"Orman, enough", Brock ordered.

The giant rock monster slithered away from the mess it had created to stand near Brock.

It was over.

I hung my head and raised Felicity's pokeball, returning her.

Brock sighed from across the field. "You did well Nat."

I said nothing.

"It was a close battle, but what's important is that you faced your fears".

I chuckled, raising my eyes to meet his slits.

I matched his pokerface with my grin.

"I never took you to be Naive Brock".

He raised an eyebrow.

Oh fuck yeah was I going to milk it.

"I've been saving the best for last. A secret weapon that I alone wield", I tried to spot Cooper in my peripheral vision, but didn't want to break eye contact with Brock.

"I hope you've got that badge warmed up for me." I hefted my final pokeball.

A flash of red light and my secret weapon materialized on the field.

I made a pointed effort to ignore the laughter coming from the stands.

My Kakuna made no reaction either.

"Nathaniel, I don't think you need to keep this up. There's nothing a Kakuna can do."

I chuckled again, grinning smugly. "Oh Brock, did I ever tell you about how I made it to Pewter? It wasn't easy. I almost starved actually, if not for one specific food source", I had his full attention now. Or at least I hoped I did, he hadn't ordered any attacks just yet.

"In every man's life he finds bumps in the road Brock. Wrinkles on the pages that depict our journeys. It's these moments where we separate those people who have the willpower to make it and those who better get out of our way. I found myself faced with a decision. I chose to survive. And survival meant luring a Beedrill swarm to me, killing every single one of them that dared to stand in my way, and feasting upon their cooked flesh. I know more than anyone the potential that lies within my Bumble here".

Brock just folded his arms, "Orman use Rock Tomb."

As pillars erupted from the ground, what should have been a knockout hit seemed not to phase my sturdy little Bumble. I failed to mention to anyone that I had instructed him prior to the battle, that he was to use as many hardens as he could manage whilst I kept Brock distracted. Looks like he had been listening.

Brock ordered a downward Slam attack followed by another Rock Tomb, but still failed to knock my little Kakuna out.

"That was a cheap strategy Nat. And it doesn't change the outcome of this battle. Your Kakuna can't attack."

I scowled across at Brock, "My Kakuna doesn't need to Brock."

Realisation hit him then, as Orman's condition became clear; He was drooping low to the ground, shaking his head and panting heavily. "Orman, finish this now!"

"Hold steady Bumble!"

A Slam attack knocked my Kakuna across the field, right into a slab of rock, but still he held on. Another Slam attack came down hard, making me wince, but still my Kakuna was fine. Brock ordered a Rock Tomb, which Orman took a few seconds to comply to, smashing directly into my Bumble; I thought for sure this would be the end, but yet still my seemingly indestructible little Kakuna kept it up.

But his condition did not look good. One more hit would probably end the match and Brock knew it too.

"Nat, it's over. Orman, Slam down now!"

With an ear splitting roar (that I couldn't help but notice, didn't seem to affect me this time), Orman swung his massive tail around for one final attack. Almost as if in slow motion, he raised it high, held it for a second, and summoned all his remaining strength to force it plummeting down.

With the power and momentum this thing was packing, it'd probably squish my Bumble flat!

An echoing CRASH reverberated around the gym, almost tripping me up.

I waited for the dust to settle.

My heartbeat so loud I could practically taste it!

The dust settled.

Orman had missed.

Orman had missed!

That massive tail had crashed down, not a foot away from my sturdy little Bumble!

It looks like Orman had fainted mid swing, losing his aim and collapsing entirely on the floor.

It took me another moment to realise I had won.

I had won!

There was complete silence in the gym as everyone took in what they were seeing.

Not wanting to be upstaged, Bumble made a choked sound, bursting into white light!

A few seconds later the white light disappeared and my new Beedrill hovered low, exhausted.

"Uh, Orman is unable to battle. Trainer Nathaniel… is the winner?"

That's when I decided to vomit.